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The United States-Mexican Boundary Survey

tenant W. H. Emory, had reported existed somewhere along theGila River. All of these objectives commanded Trist's seriousattention for upon their fulfillment depended the cessation ofhostilities.2Article V of the treaty as concluded declared that the boundaryline should run from a point three leagues out in the Gulf ofMexico up the Rio Grande along its deepest channel to the pointwhere the river struck the southern boundary of New Mexico.From this point it ran westerly along the whole southern bound-ary of New Mexico, "which runs north of the town called Paso"[present Juarez], to its western termination, and thence north-ward along the western line of New Mexico until it intersectedthe first branch of the Gila River, or to the point on the linenearest such branch, and then down it to the Gila, down the Gilato the Colorado, and then in a straight line to a point on thePacific Ocean. The terminal point on the Pacific Ocean was tobe one marine league south of the southernmost point of the portof San Diego as laid down in the 1782 map of Juan Pantoja,second sailing master of the Spanish fleet, published in 1802 inthe atlas to the voyages of the schooners Sutil and Mexicana.3The southern and western limits of New Mexico were thosespecified in J. Disturnell's "Map of the United Mexican States,as organized and defined by various acts of the congress of saidrepublic, and constructed according to the best authorities. Re-vised edition. Published at New York in 1847." This map wasknown, at the time, to be inaccurate, but was nevertheless in-cluded as an arbitrary definition of the limits of New Mexico.'Even the two copies of the map attached to the treaties were notidentical, the American copy being the seventh edition, and theMexican copy the twelfth edition.5 All versions of Disturnell's2William R. Manning, Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States: Inter-American Affairs, z831-x86o (12 vols.; Washington, 1932-1939), III, o1044-10o49.3Senate Executive Documents, 3oth Cong., 1st Sess. (Serial No. 509), DocumentNo. 52, pp. 43-45-'William H. Emory, "Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Sur-vey," House Executive Documents, 34th Cong., 1st Sess. (Serial No. 861), Docu-ment No. 135, p. 21; undated Trist draft of letter to New York Evening Post (MS.,Nicholas P. Trist Papers, Library of Congress), XXXIV, June 20, 1849-February 23,1853.GLaurence Martin, Disturnell's Map (Washington, 1937), 353.